Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/273

 Newar metalworker brought the same artistic feeling into play in his small creations as in his large figure compositions.

Of what may be termed the minor arts of Nepal, that of the worker in wood is the most important, and in his productions this craftsman has been even more prolific than the metalworker. But he has rarely if ever aspired to statuary in this material, although his caryatid struts are at times such wonderful figure groups that they may almost be classed as fine art. But regarded broadly the Newar woodworker has subordinated his handiwork and utilized it mainly in conjunction with the architect, so that his conceptions come within the category of the applied arts. In his carved tympanums—those large characteristic panels applied over all Nepali doorways—the woodworker has been allowed considerable latitude, and these features are often complete pictures, religious subjects sculptured out of wood, and treated with a freedom which adds not a little to their charm. The motive of these "overdoors," whether in wood or in metal, is ordinarily the same general idea—a story in the